Half way there

This is the first half of my unit of French Fusiliers - the 45th Regiment of the Line if you remember. The 45th had their eagle captured at Waterloo but these clever fellows have obviously left theirs back at barracks to avoid such a disgrace.

I confess that I have found it hard going painting this lot but having reached the halfway point I hope it will speed up. I have tried many times over the years to paint with production line methods in the hope of achieving a quicker turn around but in the end I always tend to paint just 3 figures at a time. More than this and I start to feel that painting has become a chore rather than an enjoyment.

These models deserve the attention however as they are all vintage Hinton Hunt castings that have turned out to be surprisingly rare considering that Fusilier figures should be the core of any French wargame army. Like many of the Hintons they have a very distinctive quirky stance. Perhaps not one of the best examples of Marcus Hinton’s work but when the command groups are added I still expect the Regiment to pass muster.

Berry Head

Now what has this got to do with Hinton Hunt Figures? Well, strictly speaking nothing. It’s more to do with history and the Napoleonic Wars in particular. Most days we take our dogs to Berry Head where they scamper about in and out of the ruins of the Napoleonic Fort and bark in an unruly manner at tourists.

On a really wet and windy day it’s not hard to imagine being a poor sentry stuck outside in the teeth of a howling gale scanning the horizon for a sight of Boney’s invasion fleet. The fascinating thing is though that eventually the soldiers manning the fort did get to lay eyes upon the Emperor although not as a conqueror but as a prisoner.

In 1815 Napoleon was brought to Tor Bay aboard HMS Bellerophon which anchored off Berry Head. The Emperor was convinced that the British were going to let him come ashore and live out his days on a country estate. He must have been pretty peeved when he sailed instead to St Helena.

Well, I find it all thought provoking but the dogs just treat the place like a park…

On Manoeuvres

The men were getting restless stuck in the wargame cabinet so I ordered them out on manoeuvres to blow away the cobwebs.

Once in the field I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of Swedes about, perhaps because I can paint them faster than the other types as they are refurbished rather than painted from scratch. Taking a leaf from the imaginary SYW camp I decided therefore to form the "Federation of the North" consisting of Swedes, Russians and Austrians. The picture shows a brigade going through their drill - click on the image for a closer look.

An unusual aspect of building armies from vintage figures is that you can only create units from what you can find. This has resulted in some odd hybrid units such as the Anglo-Austrian battalion made up of renegade British sailors and Hungarian Grenadiers, but more of that some other time.

French Fusiliers

These ghostly looking fellows are Hinton Hunt French Line Fusiliers. They look battle weary, perhaps veterans of many a hard fight or maybe they have just been kept in a loft for 30 years? Either way they have been a bit problematic for me. I only have 18 of the advancing figures plus a command group of 3 figures and have been looking for the missing 3 men to make up the unit for nearly a year and a half. Finally I have decided to wait no longer and have inserted a second command group to make up the numbers.

This is a last look at them before they enter a jar of bleach to be reborn as sparkling new castings. These ones have actually been painted up as light infantry but they will soon be parading in new uniforms as a battalion of the 45th Regiment of the Line. The figures here are:

FN5 Fusilier Charging
FN4 Colour Bearer Charging

In keeping with the Old School theme of this project I will be fielding separate units of French Fusiliers and Grenadiers rather than a more historical mix of companies. When I first started wargaming I had no idea about unit organisation so a French battalion has to be all of one figure type to create the authentic feel.

Guard Horse Artillery

At last I have finished my French Imperial Guard Horse Artillery crew. These figures are all vintage Hinton Hunt castings that I stripped and repainted. The gun is a plastic one from the Revell set.

I am really pleased with the way they turned out. Many years ago I painted this exact set of figures (in fact they were the last HH I painted back in the 1970’s) and I was disappointed with my effort then. I didn’t have the right colour blue and I made a bit of a pigs ear of them. These ones on the other hand look darn good even if I do say so myself. The figures are:

FN180 Officer pointing, holding map
FN181 Gunner with porte-fire
FN182 Gunner with rammer

FN183 Gunner holding cannon ball

Original HH artillery models are pretty rare but even if I had one I probably wouldn’t use it as they are under sized for the figures. It would be undignified for these fine Guardsmen to have to stoop down to fire so I am not too bothered about the plastic substitute.

More Marshals

Yes, you guessed it – still no new painting so here are a couple more French Marshals instead. As with the others I will eventually strip the old paint from these figures and give them a new lease of life, just not sure when.

The chap on the left is General Dorsenne (FN360 on horse FNH10) not a Marshal strictly speaking but he did rise to command the Imperial Guard in 1809 so that’s good enough for me.

On the right is Marshal Massena (FN356 on horse FNH10) who was certainly one of Napoleon’s most able commanders. He performed brilliantly at Aspern-Essling in 1809 despite the fact that the Emperor had shot out one of his eyes in a hunting accident the previous year. In 1810 he drew the short straw being given command of the Army of Portugal. He actually did incredibly well against Wellington under the circumstances but Napoleon didn’t think so and forcibly retired him. Apparently he never forgave Napoleon for this although you think he would have been more miffed about the eye.

The Old Ad’s – Part 2

Here posing for the camera are Marshals Davout and Murat recreating the scene of their famous Hinton Hunt advert (see “The old ads are the best”). These figures form part of my French general staff currently awaiting a repaint.

Marshal Davout (FN355 on the left) hero of Austerlitz and Auerstadt. He commanded the rearguard during the retreat from Moscow. A solid, reliable all round good egg. Apparently he had very poor eyesight and, if this model is a good likeness, a touch of baldness.

Prince Murat (FN351 on the right) was a dashing cavalry commander who liked to design his own over the top uniforms. He had a good eye for ground but was not a brilliant strategist – Napoleon once called him a ‘bewildered idiot’ (according to Bruce Quarrie). Seems a bit harsh for such a flamboyant character.

If I had lived in Napoleonic times I would have liked to be a dashing Murat type. Sadly I more closely resemble the balding and bespectacled Davout.